Means for hoisting and conveying two-rope grab-buckets.



N0. 829 057 PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906. A- E. BROWN. MEANS FOR HOISTING ANDCONVEYING TWO ROPE GRAB BUGKBTS.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB.1D.1906.

4 SHEETSSHBET 1.

1 E ST- o i: ATZZT/ZY.

No- 829,057. PATENTBD AUG. 21, 1906; A E. BROWN. MEANS FOR HOISTING ANDCONVEYING TWO ROPE GRAB EUOKETS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB 10. 1906.

I. I r- By ATTORNEY.

No. 829,057. PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906. A E BROWN. MEANS FOR HOISTING ANDCONVEYING TWO ROPE GRAB BUGKETS.

APPLIOATION FILED I'BB.10, 1906.

4 SHEETB-BHEBT 3.

' mmvron er/fi az y ATTORNEY No. 829,057. PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906.

A. E. BROWN. MEANS FOR HOISTING AND CONVEYING TWO ROPE GRAB BUOKETS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 0. 1

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WIN/58558.- {/WENZUR change and shifting of grasp UNITED STATES PATENToFFIoE.

ALEXANDER E. BROWN, or CLEVELAND, orno, ASSIGNOR BROWN HOISTINGMACHINERY COMPANY; OF CLEVELAND, onic.

MEANS FOR HOISTING AND CONVEYING TWO-ROPE GRAB-BUCKETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21, 1806.

Application filed February 10. 1906. Serial No. 300,455.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER E. BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and fuseful Means for Hoisting and. Conveying Two- RopeGrab -Buckets in Connection with Overhead Tramways, as to which Iherebydeclare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion, uereference being had and intends to the drawings accompanying and made apart of this specification! My invention relates to and involves thespecial kind of appliances chiefly employed in hoisting and conveyingwhat is known as the two-rope type of grab-bucket on and in connectionwith overhead tramways for the purpose of transferring ore, coal, orother gross material from car or boat to stock-pile,-

and vice versa. In this operation the bucket is raised and lowered b thealternate winding up and paying out o the so-called hoisting and hueet-sustaining or shell ropes, respectively, and is then traversed alongthe bridge-tramway that spans the field of operations by means of aspecial racking rope and drum, which drum, as well as drums,respectively, for the hoisting and the shell rope referred to are eachcontrolled through clutches and brakes that are controlled by electriccircuits manipulated by levers located at a common point. In prevailingmethods a given grab and dump involves the exercise of no less than sixdistinct lever movements on the part of the operator, each in prescribedand rapid sequence, and with a and posture each time. The bucket beingabove the hatch, with jaws distended ready for its load, the operatorfirst presses a foot-lever to free the hoisting-drum and allow thebuc'kets descent by gravity. He next moves a second lever to throw outthe clutch between'the hoisting and shell or bucket-sustaining drum andat the same time pushes out a third lever to clutch the hoist-rope drumto the driving-shaft A fourth lever must now be seized to start theshaft, and when the latter's revolutions have caused enough of thehoistrope to be wound up toclose thc buckets jaws or blades it isnecessary to at once actuate the levers that clutch both hoist and drumstogether on their shaft, so that their respective ropes or cables shallthereafter take in at equal pace. When by ,this process the bucket israised to its trolley, the drums must then be unclutched from the shaftand at the same time a lever be moved to rack the load along thetramwa'y to the dumping-point, when by separate move' ments brakes areset in order to firmly lock the racking and the shell-rope drum, whilethe bucket empties itself.

It is the object and aim of my present in vention to substitute for thearrangement just described a mechanical method of accomplishing the sameresults, but with a greatly-reduced number of levers and a correspondingreduction and simplification of -the movements that an operator iscalled on to make.

In the accom is a longitudina rope and a lated in their normal placeupon a driveshaft, together with the lever and lever connections thatcontrol their movements. Fig. 2 is a like view of a single racking-drumas employedinmy said method. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of thehand-lever, controller, and electric connections thereof shown inFig. 1. Fi 4 is a like detail of similar parts shown in ig. 2, togetherwith the brakeband and bell-crank connection pertainin to the same, thesaid band being represented as set. Fig. 5 indicates the lever,bell-crank, and band connections shown in Fig. 4, when the brake-band isoff. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of a preferential order for theplacing of the levers shown. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a hoistingand conveying 'machine or overhead system containing aselements thereofvarious features shown in the preceding figures when such features arelocated in the supporting-frame of said machine, and Fi 8 is a similarview when. the trolley-track is arranged horizontal y f'said frame(instead of on an inclir. with? I. set thereto, as in Fig. 7) andcertain of the-deatures previously shown are located iii-the trolleycarried by such track.

Similar reference characters are used on the same parts throughout thedrawin s.

B is the hoisting and conveying mac e or overhead s stem as a whole.

sliellrope drum as mutually rerying, respectively, the hoist and thebucketsustaining or shell ropes d and d. Around their outer ends brakingfacilities are provided, as indicated by the brake-shoes b b and brakebands b b. Said drums are mounted through their hubs 1i and h,respectively, and, as shown, have their inner ends in closejuxtaposition one to the other.

He? eath and concentric with the drum 1) at its outer end there ismounted the disk (1 of a friction-clutch device. The clutch shown in thedrawings is of that order of such devices where the circumferentialsurface of an annular band or fillet that surrounds and is fastened to ashaft-wheel is moved into forcible contact with a peripheral surface ofthe part to be driven by distending such band oppositely from its ends.Between the perimeter of the wheel C and the drum D is the band of suchclutch, (denoted in the draw ing by 0,) and fastened to the undersurface of the drum 1) is a thicker fillet or band of wood, vulcanizedfiber, or like material 0, which serves as the shoe or bearing-surfacewith which the clutch-band comes in contact when the clutch is thrownin.

As indicated by dotted lines, the wheel 0 is keyed or splincd to theshaft A throu h its hub h. A similar clutch-wheel C, wit cor respondingclutch-band c and shoe 0, is indicated as concentric with the oppositeexterior end of the drum l), or, rather, with an annular flange thatprojects from that end within. and concentric .with the end of the drumD. The wheel C differs, however, from the wheel C in thatits hub isaprolongation of or is fixed toand within the hub proper of the drum D,and consequently is not keyed to the shaft A, but is mounted looselythereon and turns with and as a part of said drum. 4

d is a sliding collar around the hub h, adapted to throw the clutch inand out as it is reciprocated, and d is a corresponding collar connectedby the rods 1' r with the outer sliding collar D.

L is a forked clutch-lever that straddles the collar d and is pivoted atthe fixed point The branches or forks of said lever emrace and engagethe collar (1 and its lower arm is connected by the link-pieces l lwith.

the solenoid S. Similarly L is a forked clutch-lever that embraces thecollar D Its up er arm is connected, as with the linkpiece with anoperative handle H, and when said handle is used 7) becomes the fixedpoint for the lever L. When operated by the solenoid S, as hereinafterexplained, its fixed p t will be at p.

S is a solenoid connected by the links I l with the lever-arm L at). Itscircuit (re resented by the lines 6 e (comprehends t e handle-bar H anda switch or current-interrupter therein '01, (in dotted lines,) actuatedby an electric button 7c, located on said hanloosely on the drive-shaftA.

dle-bar. Said circuit further comprehends an intermediate switch w andan. operative solenoid therefor s. Said handle-bar H is dul r fitted tobe oscillated about a point 0 anrf has its lower end provided with ashoe U of any suitable conductive material. Said shoe is preferablygiven a convexity at its outer face or surface corresponding with. itsorbital movement around the center 0 and is duly connected with thecircuit (represented by the lines e e) of the solenoid S. In the samecircuit and so located that when the handle-bar H is reciprocated theshoe U will be traversed acrossthe same in bearing or contact therewithis a second concen.tric shaped shoe U. The circuit is further in.-terrupted by an intermediate switch to and an operative solenoidtherefor s.

M is a motor for driving the shaft A. It is governed by the controller Nthrough the circuit represented by the lines m m. Said controller isadapted to be actuated by oscillating the handle-bar H, with which it isconnected by the lever-arm or linkiece Gr, sup; ported in the guides g gand the iioot-lever To compensate for the parallel motion of thelever-arm G at the same time insurin as will be seen, that the clutchon. the hoist drum D is in before the shaft A is started,.a slot t, witha pro ortioned u turn (see Fig. 3) is formed in sai boot, in w iich slotthe end of the lever-arm G is duly seated and slides.

P represents the trolley, of a kind suitable for use on an inclinedtrack, as indicated in Fig. 7 by V, and P a trolleyin this case of theso-called man-trolley typc-carry ing within itself the hoist-drum,bucket-sustaining drum, motors, clutching devices, circuit-breakingapparatus, and levers for controlling the same, described.

D is the 'usual rackin -drum for taking in and lettingout thewriting-rope d. It is fast to the shaft A, which is driven by the motorM and is provided with a brake, (indicated by the brake-shoe f and thebrakeband b.) l The latterthe brake-band b is connected with thehandle-bar H by the bell-cranks e and link-pieces e" in any suitablemanner, as shown in Fi s. 4 and 5, to enable it to be actuated at wilThe motor M is governed by the controller N through a circuit reresented by the lines m lit by means of the handlebar I l and thesliding lever-arm G and boot-lever g, connecting the same. R is areversing-lever on said controller adapted to be moved from a normal bythe solenoid S, whose circuit (represented by the lines f) is connectedwith the handle-bar H and is there subject to a circuit-interrupter orswitch 1', (shown in dotted lines) actuated by an electric button It inthe handle roper or grasp of said handlebar. Althoug 1 there are shownthe two switches W and W as o crating, respective] y the solenoids S andby which arranged 'Tnent-alesser current is required, nevertheg it isevident that either or both of said switches could be dispensed with andthe vided'wi'th the necessary facilities for setting ,hoist and shellro'tli em at ,willin their respective quadrants'ta-nds, so as to affordthe necessary resistance, through their various bell-cranks and levers,to and against any opposite action of thesolenoids with whichthey areconnected, also that said levers are assembled in the order perhapsindicated in Fig. 6 at some comnion point convenient for their handling.

Having thus described my said invention, its operation is thus exlained: Assume, as to the drawin s, that the bucket is empty andsuspends immediately below its tramway above the loadingoint with jawsdistended and hoist an bucket sustaining drums, as shown, in clutchtogether. Under these conditions the bucket is allowed to descend bygravity under control of the brake ofthe drum D, durin which 0 erationboth es and cl will be paid out at equal pace. n reaching and restin onthe stock-pile, by pressin the button on the handle-bar H the so-ca ledshell-clutch will be thrown out and the hoist-drum D, the drumwhereby'the bucket is closed and hoisted, will be free to move and closethe jaws without a' corresponding movement of the bucket-sustaining orshell drum D and its rope. Without releasing his rasp at all theoperator, by simply throwing orward the lever H to an upright position,will bring the shoes U and U in bearing throu bout a portion of theirsurfaces, and there y close the circuit e and actuate the smallintermediate solenoid s, so that the switch 11) will be closed, thesolenoid S actuated, and the hoist-drum D clutched to the drive-shaft A.B now further pushing the lever H forward t e last anotion of thelever-arm G will be taken u the boot-lever T propelled and the motor Kistarted. The hoist-drum now takes up its rope d and both closes thebucket and brin s it upto the trolley on the tramwa overhea pressurebeing removed from the utton K at the moment of closing in order to lockthe two drums together and insure the winding in of both ropes at thesame rate. The operator nextpropels thelracking-lever H to a vertical,"which releases the racking-drum brake, and then by a further pro ulsionthe controller may be actuated and t e rackingdrum motor M started. Thetrolley and its suspended bucket is in this manner traversed along thetramway to the proper point for discharge, whenthe operator has but torei all that is required for its return to-the controlled drums to saidshaft, and eac verse his previous movements LU accomplish sup- lyoint. pW hat I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a doble drum for overhead tramways, the com ination, with adrive-shaft of a hoist-drum and motor mechanism for driving the same, ofa bucket-sustaining drum, and suitable means, respectively, forclutching said drums, one to the other, which means are controlled b acircuit-breaking apparatus on a handever provided for. the pose, and asolenoid o eratively relate to the same, together witli suitable meansfor clutching said hoist-drum to said shaft, the said means beingcontrolled by an electric circuit connected with said hand-lever, whichis made and broken according as said lever is reciprocated,substantially as shown and described.

2.. In combination with an overhead tramway system for hoisting andconveying, a hoist-drum, and a bucket-sustaining drum mounted on ashaft, adapted to drive the same when actuated by an electric motorprovided for the purpose, suitable means for, re s ectively, clutchingone of said drums to said sllaft, and each to the other, one of themeans so rovided, and said motor, being y a circuit-breaking hand-levercontaining a second circuit-breaking apparatus that controls the otherof said means,

-together with a suitable actuating appliance for said latter means onsaid lever accessible to the o erators grasp, substantially as shown andescribe 3. In a double drum for overhead tram- Wa s, the combination,with a drive-shaft and an electric motor for driving the same, of ahoist-drum and a bucket-sustaining drum, suitable means for elutchin oneof said l to the other,

when electric circuits, with which each is connected, are made, switchesin said circuits, and solenoids to operate the same, a lever-arm sorelated to the circuits of said motor and shaft-clutching means as toenable said circuits to be successively made and broken and saidsolenoids to be operated according as said lover is reciprocated, thesaid lever being also rovided with an appliance in or on the han lethereof to break the circuit, with which it is connected, that actuatessaid means for clutching said drums together, substantially as shown anddescribed. 4. In a double rum for overhead tramwa s, the combinationwith a drive-shaft an an electric motor for the same, of a hoistdrum anda bucket-sustaining drum, suitable means for clutching one of said drumsto said shaft, and each to the other, when an electric circuit withwhich they are connected, is made, a lever-arm so related to the cir-.

cuits of said motor and shaft clutching mounted on a shaft, adapted todrive the same, when actuated by an electric motor provided for thepurpose, suitable means for respectively clutching one of said drums tosaid shaft and each to the other, one of themeans so controlledcontaining a second circuit-breaking apparatus that controls the otherof said means, together with a suitable actuating appliance on saidlever for the same, substantially as shown and described. I

6. The combination, with an overhead tramway, of a drive-shaft andactuating electric motor therefor, ahoist-drum andbucket sustaining drumon said shaft, provided with suitable means for clutching one of saiddrums to said shaft, and each to the other, when an electric circuit,with which each is rovided, and said motor, being y a circuit-breakinghand-lever electric circuit with which it is connected, is

made, a bucket -'sustainin with a suitable device for c utching the sameto said hoist-drum, when an electric circuit with which it is connected,:is made, together with a-hand-lever arranged to make and breaksuccessivelyelectric circuits connected with said motor and saidhoist-drum device when said lever is reciprocated, and, also,

drum provided carrying an apparatus to make and break the electriccircuit connected with said bucket-sustaining drum, substantially asshown and described.

ALEXANDER E. BROWN.

In presence of A. M. MERRYWEATHER, MELVIN PATTISON.

